Security Advisories and Notifications

Threat level: High
A knowledgeable user can remotely attack the server.

Severity: High
Successfully executing a denial-of-service attack can make WebLogic Server unusable.

A problem was identified that could potentially cause a security vulnerability in certain versions of WebLogic Server. Patches and an upgrade are available to correct this problem (see Section II). Oracle treats potential security problems with a high degree of urgency and endeavors to take appropriate steps to help ensure the security of our customers' systems. As a result, Oracle strongly suggests the following actions:

I. Read the following advisory.
II. Apply the suggested action.
III. If you know of any additional users interested in future security advisories, please forward them the registration instructions included in this advisory.

I. Advisory

An XML document can be constructed so that when parsed by a WebLogic Server instance it will cause the server to possibly run out of memory. Canonicalizing the XML will prevent the out of memory condition from occurring. Applications that accept XML data from clients and pass them to the parser without canonicalization are susceptible to this vulnerability.

This patch resolves the issue by reworking XML parser algorithms to better handle non-canonicalized XML documents although BEA recommends canonicalizing the XML before passing to the parser.

The following versions of WebLogic Server and WebLogic Express are affected by this vulnerability:

WebLogic Server 8.1 released through Service Pack 4, on all platforms

WebLogic Server 7.0 released through Service Pack 6, on all platforms.

WebLogic Server 6.1 released through Service Pack 7, on all platforms.

II. SUGGESTED ACTION

Oracle strongly recommends the following course of actions.

WebLogic Server and WebLogic Express version 8.1

Upgrade to WebLogic Server and Express 8.1 Service Pack 5.

WebLogic Server and WebLogic Express version 7.0

Upgrade to WebLogic Server and Express 7.0 Service Pack 6.

Download and apply the patch #7823884 from OracleMetaLink as per the instructions below:
• Select the Patches and Updates tab after logging in to OracleMetaLink.
• Click Simple Search.
• In the Search By field, select Patch Number from the list.
• Enter the patch number. The patch number may be different for different product releases and platforms.
• Select the platform (or choose generic as applicable)
• Click Go.
• Click Download to download the patch.

Place the jar for the patch in the CLASSPATH before the weblogic.jar file.

WebLogic Server 7.0 Service Pack 7 will include the functionality in this patch.

WebLogic Server version 6.1

Upgrade to WebLogic Server 6.1 Service Pack 7.

Download and apply the patch #7823876 from OracleMetaLink as per the instructions below:
• Select the Patches and Updates tab after logging in to OracleMetaLink.
• Click Simple Search.
• In the Search By field, select Patch Number from the list.
• Enter the patch number. The patch number may be different for different product releases and platforms.
• Select the platform (or choose generic as applicable)
• Click Go.
• Click Download to download the patch.

Place the jar for the patch in the CLASSPATH before the weblogic.jar file.

SECURITY COMMUNICATIONS

Oracle strongly suggests that customers apply the remedies recommended in all our security advisories. Oracle also urges customers to apply every Service/Maintenance Pack as they are released. Service/Maintenance Packs include a roll-up of all bug fixes for each version of the product, as well as each of the prior Service/Maintenance Packs. Service/Maintenance Packs and information about them can be found at:
http://www.oracle.com/technology/software/products/ias/bea_main.html

As a policy, if there are any security-related issues with any Oracle product, Oracle will distribute an advisory and instructions with the appropriate course of action. Because the security of your site, data, and code is our highest priority, we are committed to communicating all security-related issues clearly and openly.